Prognosis
Fauci Says New Mutation May Speed the Spread of Coronavirus
A model of Covid-19 sits on a witness table before a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., on July 2, 2020.
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Bloomberg
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The novel coronavirus is showing some signs of mutating in a way that may make it easier for the pathogen to spread, according to Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
There is research underway that suggests a single mutation affecting a specific amino acid is emerging that allows the virus to replicate better and create a higher viral load, measures that could make it easier to transmit, Fauci said at an online event hosted by the Journal of the American Medical Association.